Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Tropic Thunder - Worst Movie of the Season
Don't go see it. If you decide to NOT heed my advice, at least do yourself a favor and rent it so that you can turn it off when you realize that you should have listened to my valuable advice. That's all I have. Later I plan on discussing the Democratic National Convention. I just have to figure out a way to do it in a non-partisan way. :) More on that later.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
You So Funny, Mr Grizzly Adams
If there is one thing I love about my husband, it’s the way he makes me laugh. Now, he can also make me not laugh, like when he is being a pig-headed ignoramous…but that’s not what this is about. It’s about how he makes me laugh. Sometimes it’s the things he says; sometimes it’s the way he looks; sometimes it’s the terrible jokes he tells and then says something like “I am just like my father” (which by the way also makes me laugh because even if no one else thinks his dad’s jokes are funny, I normally do).
Sometimes it’s the funny things he does on a dare. We love to bet each other to do stupid stuff and we love to dare each other to do even more ridiculous stuff. Normally a bet would consist of something silly like the time Mike bet me lunch that I wouldn’t wear my camo shorts that I bought in the men’s section at Target with my unmatching camo shirt that I got when I worked at Legacy. Oh, and did I forget to mention that I had to wear it to small group in front of all my friends? He almost had me convinced to wear knee high striped socks with my cowboy boots…with the camo. I got all dressed up, socks and boots included, came out of the bedroom and Mike said that it was too much with the socks and boots. YOU THINK? That got me laughing. The socks and boots were too much? Not the camo men’s shorts that are WAY too big and the unmatching camo shirt from a former employer? I could not stop laughing. And then I had to walk down the street dressed in that get-up to small group, which was around the corner. The things I will do for a free lunch. I should be ashamed.
One time he asked me if I thought that he should grow out a mustache. Oh yes, I do. I think a mustache is a great idea. It looked like the boys in middle school that don’t shave yet, but almost need to. It was hilarious! And he went out in public like that. Everytime we would leave a place, we would die laughing and wonder if the people inside were laughing as hard as we were. (And as hard as I am laughing now just thinking about it. Seriously, tears are streaming down my face.)
He grew out a fu man chu once for a friend’s wedding. What was he thinking? Probably that it would get a good laugh out of me. And it did. He made it the whole weekend with that thing. Everytime I looked at him I would start giggling. I couldn't stop.These are all entertaining stories that you can think about for the rest of the day. But I wanted to leave you a little bit of a visual as well. Mike was growing his hair out once, and he loved to put his hair in a samari ponytail. I love it. I can’t stop laughing!!!!!
Friday, July 25, 2008
My Life As I Imagined...And My Life In Reality
I was reading Pioneer Woman the other day and she had an entry about whether or not your life turned out like you thought it would, like you had planned for it to turn out.
She asks:
How similar is your life now to how you imagined it ten years ago? Twenty years ago? Are you exactly where you imagined you’d be? Or are you constantly asking yourself, “How did I get here?” Do you mourn the unrealized plans in your life? Or are you happy no matter what your circumstances?
Some of the responses she got were about how happy people were with where their life was, but a lot of them were really, really sad. They were people talking about how miserable their life was, or about how their kid was in the hospital with a terminal disease, or about how they had made a lot of mistakes along the way, and so on.
I have been thinking about where my life is a lot lately. This post on Pioneer Woman made me contemplate even further. I can honestly say that I absolutely adore my life. It is hardly what I thought it would be in some ways, and exactly what everyone hopes for in other ways. Some days are pretty darn hard. Other days are so happy, how can I even complain about the ones that aren’t?
Am I where I thought I would be 10 years ago? Not even close. But would I trade it for what I naively thought that I wanted? Not a chance.
Let’s start with 10 years ago…I had just finished my freshman year in college (Holy crap!!! That was 10 years ago?!?!). I had just started dating someone who was a year older and had completely different friends than did I. The relationship was doomed from the start, but we generally enjoyed each other’s company. I was serious about school. I couldn’t lose my scholarship; that would have spelled disaster for my college plans. Heck, I could barely get enough financial aid to stay in school. I sure wasn’t going to jeopardize it any further by not having good enough grades to keep the free money I was getting. I was working like a dog to afford life. And I was having a blast. I had a ton of friends, almost all of which had the same beliefs that I did and liked to have fun the way that I did.
I had HUGE dreams. I was going somewhere. (That meant, somewhere outside of Abilene.) I was going to succeed professionally; I was going to make a difference in the world; I was on a career-minded mission. I guess somewhere in there I was going to eventually find a relationship that wasn’t doomed from the start. I had zero plans for children.
I still have huge dreams. It’s just that now they are totally different than they were back then. My focus has gradually changed. I want a fulfilling job that allows me to be with my family as much as possible. Right now, it’s just Mike and me, but we hope to eventually have kids. I want to be able to focus on that aspect of my life as much as possible. I can’t imagine working in a high-powered position that didn’t allow me to go home at the end of my day and leave my job at work. Sometimes it is really hard for me to accept that I am in a job that is not satisfying and not at all prestigious. In fact, a monkey could do my job. Seriously. But the thought of trading that to go back to my high-stress health care job, where I honestly felt like I was making a difference, makes me cringe.
Do I mourn this change of plans? Absolutely not. While I may have a job that I find less than satisfactory, I still have a job. A job that allows me to go home to the teeny tiny house that I am madly in love with and is the product of our hard work. I love that I love to come home to my husband, dogs, and home. Does that make me a “desperate housewife”???? I guess so. And I'm okay with that.
She asks:
How similar is your life now to how you imagined it ten years ago? Twenty years ago? Are you exactly where you imagined you’d be? Or are you constantly asking yourself, “How did I get here?” Do you mourn the unrealized plans in your life? Or are you happy no matter what your circumstances?
Some of the responses she got were about how happy people were with where their life was, but a lot of them were really, really sad. They were people talking about how miserable their life was, or about how their kid was in the hospital with a terminal disease, or about how they had made a lot of mistakes along the way, and so on.
I have been thinking about where my life is a lot lately. This post on Pioneer Woman made me contemplate even further. I can honestly say that I absolutely adore my life. It is hardly what I thought it would be in some ways, and exactly what everyone hopes for in other ways. Some days are pretty darn hard. Other days are so happy, how can I even complain about the ones that aren’t?
Am I where I thought I would be 10 years ago? Not even close. But would I trade it for what I naively thought that I wanted? Not a chance.
Let’s start with 10 years ago…I had just finished my freshman year in college (Holy crap!!! That was 10 years ago?!?!). I had just started dating someone who was a year older and had completely different friends than did I. The relationship was doomed from the start, but we generally enjoyed each other’s company. I was serious about school. I couldn’t lose my scholarship; that would have spelled disaster for my college plans. Heck, I could barely get enough financial aid to stay in school. I sure wasn’t going to jeopardize it any further by not having good enough grades to keep the free money I was getting. I was working like a dog to afford life. And I was having a blast. I had a ton of friends, almost all of which had the same beliefs that I did and liked to have fun the way that I did.
I had HUGE dreams. I was going somewhere. (That meant, somewhere outside of Abilene.) I was going to succeed professionally; I was going to make a difference in the world; I was on a career-minded mission. I guess somewhere in there I was going to eventually find a relationship that wasn’t doomed from the start. I had zero plans for children.
I still have huge dreams. It’s just that now they are totally different than they were back then. My focus has gradually changed. I want a fulfilling job that allows me to be with my family as much as possible. Right now, it’s just Mike and me, but we hope to eventually have kids. I want to be able to focus on that aspect of my life as much as possible. I can’t imagine working in a high-powered position that didn’t allow me to go home at the end of my day and leave my job at work. Sometimes it is really hard for me to accept that I am in a job that is not satisfying and not at all prestigious. In fact, a monkey could do my job. Seriously. But the thought of trading that to go back to my high-stress health care job, where I honestly felt like I was making a difference, makes me cringe.
Do I mourn this change of plans? Absolutely not. While I may have a job that I find less than satisfactory, I still have a job. A job that allows me to go home to the teeny tiny house that I am madly in love with and is the product of our hard work. I love that I love to come home to my husband, dogs, and home. Does that make me a “desperate housewife”???? I guess so. And I'm okay with that.
Monday, July 14, 2008
4th Anniversary Staycation
Last week Mike and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. It seems like just yesterday that we got married, but in some ways it feels like forever. In a good way. I almost can’t remember what life was like without Mike. Then again, Mike and I went out on our first date over 9 years ago, and we were friends for awhile before that. Essentially, Mike has been in my life for right at 10 years. That’s about a third of my life. So that’s what I mean by it “feels like forever”…
We celebrated our anniversary this past weekend. We went on a staycation!!! Mike surprised me by planning the whole thing. He just told me when and where and took care of all the details. We had such a great time! We left the house and drove to downtown McKinney, where we went to a little bed and breakfast that Mike found. The B&B is an old house called the Dowell House. http://www.dowellhouse.com/ It is 130 years old, and was built by an influential family in McKinney. It was also the house used in the Benji movie. It’s been owned by the current owners and run as a bed and breakfast for the last 18 years. It is such a quaint house. Our room was on the second floor and had its own private balcony. There were doors in the room that opened up onto the balcony, which was huge! There were plants and trees all around to shade and make it private. There was a table with two chairs, an awning, and a hot tub. The owners really didn’t miss a thing. We had everything we could think of. There was even make-up removal pads, face masks, Off at the balcony door for mosquitoes…everything we could possibly think of.
We got all dressed up and then headed over to a restaurant downtown in McKinney on the square called Goodhues. http://www.goodhuesgrill.com/ It was so yummy! Mike and I both had fish: he had mahi-mahi and I had sautéed tilapia. It was incredible food. The service was impeccable. I highly recommend it; it’s a great date place. The owners of the place we stayed said they have the most delicious steaks too. We’ll have to try the steaks next time.
The next morning, we were served breakfast in the dining room. We had oven baked French toast that was in corning ware dishes. It had a great cinnamon and pecan sauce at the bottom, a cream cheese filling, with the bread baked on top. Oh my – it was rich and oh so good! Even I couldn’t finish it, and I rarely think anything is too rich. After breakfast, Mike and I headed home to let the dogs out and get ready for our day.
It was a sweet and memorable anniversary. Mike has a lot to live up to for future anniversaries now! And I am sure looking forward to them!!
We celebrated our anniversary this past weekend. We went on a staycation!!! Mike surprised me by planning the whole thing. He just told me when and where and took care of all the details. We had such a great time! We left the house and drove to downtown McKinney, where we went to a little bed and breakfast that Mike found. The B&B is an old house called the Dowell House. http://www.dowellhouse.com/ It is 130 years old, and was built by an influential family in McKinney. It was also the house used in the Benji movie. It’s been owned by the current owners and run as a bed and breakfast for the last 18 years. It is such a quaint house. Our room was on the second floor and had its own private balcony. There were doors in the room that opened up onto the balcony, which was huge! There were plants and trees all around to shade and make it private. There was a table with two chairs, an awning, and a hot tub. The owners really didn’t miss a thing. We had everything we could think of. There was even make-up removal pads, face masks, Off at the balcony door for mosquitoes…everything we could possibly think of.
We got all dressed up and then headed over to a restaurant downtown in McKinney on the square called Goodhues. http://www.goodhuesgrill.com/ It was so yummy! Mike and I both had fish: he had mahi-mahi and I had sautéed tilapia. It was incredible food. The service was impeccable. I highly recommend it; it’s a great date place. The owners of the place we stayed said they have the most delicious steaks too. We’ll have to try the steaks next time.
The next morning, we were served breakfast in the dining room. We had oven baked French toast that was in corning ware dishes. It had a great cinnamon and pecan sauce at the bottom, a cream cheese filling, with the bread baked on top. Oh my – it was rich and oh so good! Even I couldn’t finish it, and I rarely think anything is too rich. After breakfast, Mike and I headed home to let the dogs out and get ready for our day.
It was a sweet and memorable anniversary. Mike has a lot to live up to for future anniversaries now! And I am sure looking forward to them!!
Sunday, June 22, 2008
#1 Redskins Fan
We have a winner folks! It's the number 1 Redskins fan! Little baby Jefferson is such a fan. It's a shame his dad is the number 1 Dallas Cowboys fan... Take a look at happy little Jefferson. He just loves it at the Belknap house.
Here he is lounging on the Redskins blanket that my mom made for Mike. He looks so comfy. I doubt he has a blanket this cool at his house. Poor guy.
Man oh man! That little Jefferson is the cutest thing. He just looks up at you with the sweetest most innocent face. He and Roxy had the greatest time playing. They ran and ran and ran until they could run no more. They wrestled together over and over. Then they would wrap their heads around each other's necks likes giraffes to rest before they started wrestling again. It was so cute. Poor Roxy never has anyone to play with. Reagan, which I'm sure is no surprise, does not like to play with pesky Roxy. But Jefferson sure does.
This is what it NOW looks like: (Side note...Kyle, when did you teach Jefferson this trick?)
Here he is lounging on the Redskins blanket that my mom made for Mike. He looks so comfy. I doubt he has a blanket this cool at his house. Poor guy.Look how much he loves wearing clothes too! (By the way, he was a lot happier about wearing this than Reagan or Roxy ever is...honest.)
Man oh man! That little Jefferson is the cutest thing. He just looks up at you with the sweetest most innocent face. He and Roxy had the greatest time playing. They ran and ran and ran until they could run no more. They wrestled together over and over. Then they would wrap their heads around each other's necks likes giraffes to rest before they started wrestling again. It was so cute. Poor Roxy never has anyone to play with. Reagan, which I'm sure is no surprise, does not like to play with pesky Roxy. But Jefferson sure does.
Oh, and you don't want to miss this - I got Mike an "I love you" gift. This is what it DID look like:
This is what it NOW looks like: (Side note...Kyle, when did you teach Jefferson this trick?)Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Little Bits of Nonsensical Information
If you don’t want to completely waste your valuable time, you should stop reading now. If you are interested in a crazy mind at work, then read on…I normally only share these thoughts with those closest to me, but since they are probably the only ones reading this, then I am sure they won’t be surprised or find it a total waste of time…hopefully.
So, I asked Mike the other day if he thought people would think it weird if I told them that our dogs’ middle names were “Bacon” and “Kins”. I know it’s KIND of weird, but is it REALLY weird? I always call the dogs Reagan Bacon and Roxy Kins (although I normally say Roxykins, like it’s one word…so I guess that wouldn’t make it a middle name, it would make Roxy a kind of nickname. But that’s beside that point.). I only call them those names though if I am not calling them Sister. They are sisters, and I think they should recognize each other as such. So it’s a kind of reinforcement to continually call my two totally unrelated and different bred dogs “sisters”. Probably not something that I should share with anyone or that Mike wants me to share. But now it’s totally out in the open.
Another thing…I really get on these kicks where I am obsessed with something and can’t get enough of it. There are two very important things I am obsessing about right now (I can TOTALLY hear my dad saying, “Stop obsessing, Jennifer!”). One being Cristina’s tortilla soup. Yuummmmyyyyyyy!!!! Can’t get enough. In fact, I made some homemade tortilla soup on Sunday, and I was not disappointed. I even had it again on Monday to satisfy the urge. The second obsession right now is BBC America’s Robin Hood. If you haven’t seen it, don’t knock it. If you have seen it, then you know the acting is completely horrendous and totally addicting. I freaking love that show! Whoever thought that up was a bloody genius. I am currently trying to figure out how to rent season one of the show. We caught the end of season 1 and are now deep into season 2. I feel that it is very important to get all the background info that may have been presented to the viewer early in season 1. What if I am missing some vital piece of information that is hindering my total understanding of the current episodes? Alas, my local Blockbuster does not carry this breathtakingly splendiferous foreign tv show. How irritating. I will have to venture to the next Blockbuster which is a few short blocks from my current Blockbuster. Maybe they will have a better selection for my viewing pleasure.
Ciao.
So, I asked Mike the other day if he thought people would think it weird if I told them that our dogs’ middle names were “Bacon” and “Kins”. I know it’s KIND of weird, but is it REALLY weird? I always call the dogs Reagan Bacon and Roxy Kins (although I normally say Roxykins, like it’s one word…so I guess that wouldn’t make it a middle name, it would make Roxy a kind of nickname. But that’s beside that point.). I only call them those names though if I am not calling them Sister. They are sisters, and I think they should recognize each other as such. So it’s a kind of reinforcement to continually call my two totally unrelated and different bred dogs “sisters”. Probably not something that I should share with anyone or that Mike wants me to share. But now it’s totally out in the open.
Another thing…I really get on these kicks where I am obsessed with something and can’t get enough of it. There are two very important things I am obsessing about right now (I can TOTALLY hear my dad saying, “Stop obsessing, Jennifer!”). One being Cristina’s tortilla soup. Yuummmmyyyyyyy!!!! Can’t get enough. In fact, I made some homemade tortilla soup on Sunday, and I was not disappointed. I even had it again on Monday to satisfy the urge. The second obsession right now is BBC America’s Robin Hood. If you haven’t seen it, don’t knock it. If you have seen it, then you know the acting is completely horrendous and totally addicting. I freaking love that show! Whoever thought that up was a bloody genius. I am currently trying to figure out how to rent season one of the show. We caught the end of season 1 and are now deep into season 2. I feel that it is very important to get all the background info that may have been presented to the viewer early in season 1. What if I am missing some vital piece of information that is hindering my total understanding of the current episodes? Alas, my local Blockbuster does not carry this breathtakingly splendiferous foreign tv show. How irritating. I will have to venture to the next Blockbuster which is a few short blocks from my current Blockbuster. Maybe they will have a better selection for my viewing pleasure.
Ciao.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Down In The Dumps
All day on Monday (and really the whole weekend), I was kind of “down in the dumps”. I was just having a hard day. I couldn’t make a decision for myself; I felt like nothing was going my way; I was pretty mopey. It was just an all around crappy day. I had even flaked out on going to Mike’s volleyball game…and I rarely miss the games. I just wanted to go home and read.
I had to go to Target after work to buy some toiletries that we needed days ago but that I hadn’t been able to make myself go out and get over the weekend. Mike volunteered to go for me, which was SUCH a blessing. I just wanted to go home, prop my feet up, and open up the book I was going to start. Mike was already home from the store when I made it home and he had a surprise waiting for me…
It was a double boiler!!!!!! I was so happy!!!!! What a great ending to my crappy day and my crabby attitude! I have wanted one of those darn things for a while, but I hadn’t wanted to spend my birthday money quite yet. So I was procrastinating. Well, wait no more! I had one sitting pretty on my stove. I can’t wait until my 10 day diet is over so that I can use it! Oh the things I can make with melted chocolate…
God is so good (and not just because of melted chocolate in a double boiler)! He has given me so much for which to be thankful. I know it is so important to remember, even in the midst of a crabby attitude kind of day, that God has blessed me greatly. It may not include the blessings that I think I deserve and am patiently waiting for (whilst tapping my foot and huffing out my breath), but I can hardly complain about the blessings of a wonderful and generous husband, a job, family and friends that I adore, and so on and so forth.
I had to go to Target after work to buy some toiletries that we needed days ago but that I hadn’t been able to make myself go out and get over the weekend. Mike volunteered to go for me, which was SUCH a blessing. I just wanted to go home, prop my feet up, and open up the book I was going to start. Mike was already home from the store when I made it home and he had a surprise waiting for me…
It was a double boiler!!!!!! I was so happy!!!!! What a great ending to my crappy day and my crabby attitude! I have wanted one of those darn things for a while, but I hadn’t wanted to spend my birthday money quite yet. So I was procrastinating. Well, wait no more! I had one sitting pretty on my stove. I can’t wait until my 10 day diet is over so that I can use it! Oh the things I can make with melted chocolate…
God is so good (and not just because of melted chocolate in a double boiler)! He has given me so much for which to be thankful. I know it is so important to remember, even in the midst of a crabby attitude kind of day, that God has blessed me greatly. It may not include the blessings that I think I deserve and am patiently waiting for (whilst tapping my foot and huffing out my breath), but I can hardly complain about the blessings of a wonderful and generous husband, a job, family and friends that I adore, and so on and so forth.
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